Boost GPA & Transcript Question

[Tripletmom]

30 years ago I took Intro to Psych and got a C.  To raise my GPA and repeat the course, do I have to take the course from a CC, for example, where I receive a letter grade?  Or, can I take an ACE provider or CLEP?  In that instance, do they remove the "C" and replace it with "Credit"?

What does the TESU transcript show for ACE courses?  Does it show "CR" or a letter grade for the course percentage?


PS: I'm still enrolled at CC, but ready to enroll at TESU.

Thanks so much!

[allvia]

You have a passing grade in the course, and a C is even good enough to be place in the AOS (if you needed it to).  I would not waste time or money on retaking it. If you want to raise your GPA you can just as easily take a course in something else through the CC that you know you can get an A in, you will take your C combined with an A (in the other subject) and there you have now earned 3 more credits and your GPA is now a B (excluding any other courses you may have credit in).

Also to actually replace the C, you would have to take the exact course through the same school - as they would replace the C in the course (wipe out the C and put in the new higher grade, not all schools offer this as an option)

And TESU only shows they gave you credit "CR", courses transferred are not calculated into your TESU GPA - only your overall (which would count when you apply for a Graduate program)

[cookderosa]

You have a passing grade in the course, and a C is even good enough to be place in the AOS (if you needed it to).  I would not waste time or money on retaking it. If you want to raise your GPA you can just as easily take a course in something else through the CC that you know you can get an A in, you will take your C combined with an A (in the other subject) and there you have now earned 3 more credits and your GPA is now a B (excluding any other courses you may have credit in).

Also to actually replace the C, you would have to take the exact course through the same school - as they would replace the C in the course (wipe out the C and put in the new higher grade, not all schools offer this as an option)

And TESU only shows they gave you credit "CR", courses transferred are not calculated into your TESU GPA - only your overall (which would count when you apply for a Graduate program)

This is all correct.
To run the math, use a free online GPA calculator. Your 3 credit Intro Psych course is only part of the whole 120 credits. So, graded credits make up your GPA while cr (pass/fail) courses will not. As such, say you have only 1 graded credit: your psych class that earned a C worth a GPA of 2.0. That is your entire GPA. Now, say you took a second class and earned an A (4.0 quality points). Your new GPA is 3.0
OTOH, say you kept your psych class but finished your entire degree with ACE/CLEP credit- in that case, you're stuck at 2.0.
What is your GPA now and what do you want it to be? Also, do you know how many graded vs credit courses you have?

[Ideas]

TESU won't calculate that C in your GPA, because it's a transfer credit. If you're doing what most students here do, and only taking the Capstone at TESU, then your GPA will be based on only the Capstone grade.

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However, some places (grad schools and others) will realize that your GPA is only based upon 3 credits and they will look at your last 30 or 60 graded credits, from any schools, to calculate a GPA. If you care about getting a high GPA, having one C can pull down the average even with a bunch of A's.

[dfrecore]

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If you care about getting a high GPA, having one C can pull down the average even with a bunch of A's.

One grade will not do much to your GPA if you already have a lot of courses - this is good news and bad news.  Example: if your GPA for 60cr is 3.7, then getting a C will lower that to 3.62.  Not a ton, it's still an A- GPA.  That class won't kill you.

But, if you have a low GPA like 2.5, you would have to get a LOT of A's to raise it to a 3.0 (like 30 additional credits of A's).

So, it's harder to raise or lower your GPA with a single class than it seems.

[Tripletmom]

At my CC, my GPA is 4.0.  The psych class from long ago comes in as a transfer credit.  However, when I forward transcripts I have one GPA at 4.0, and the other with this lonely "C".

So I thought if I retook the class from my current CC, I could replace the transfer credit with a letter grade.  This would void the first class essentially, keeping my overall GPA at a 4.0.

[allvia]

At my CC, my GPA is 4.0.  The psych class from long ago comes in as a transfer credit.  However, when I forward transcripts I have one GPA at 4.0, and the other with this lonely "C".

So I thought if I retook the class from my current CC, I could replace the transfer credit with a letter grade.  This would void the first class essentially, keeping my overall GPA at a 4.0.

It won't work that way - you will still have the C.  You may have two courses that are both Intro to Psych (duplicate) - one with a C and one with an A, but it doesn't replace or remove the first C from counting in your overall GPA.  As I stated earlier TESU will give you complete credit for the C, it doesn't affect your TESU GPA at all.  It is far wiser to earn new credits towards finishing the degree you want than trying to erase a C from your past.   

Accept that you once weren't the great student you are now and persevere.  There are many of us here in this forum that have more than a few C's (& D's - even some F's) from 'back in the days' of our youth.  In some cases we thought those less than perfect grades of our past would haunt us forever and what was the point of even trying to get a degree, it was never going to happen....and then we landed here and we learned our futures are bright! &  we worked and got it done.  In the end that is what matters, don't put so much pressure on yourself - you do not need a perfect GPA. You do need (want) a College Degree.

[MNomadic]

2 quotes I heard over the years may help:

" C's make degrees"

"What do you call a doctor who graduated with a 4.0? A doctor. What do you call a doctor who graduated with a 2.5? A doctor."

[davewill]

At my CC, my GPA is 4.0.  The psych class from long ago comes in as a transfer credit.  However, when I forward transcripts I have one GPA at 4.0, and the other with this lonely "C".

So I thought if I retook the class from my current CC, I could replace the transfer credit with a letter grade.  This would void the first class essentially, keeping my overall GPA at a 4.0.

A grad school will insist on receiving all transcripts anyway, and will then proceed to calculate your GPA according to their own rules. They will not think anything of the "lonely C", especially if everything else is an "A". Just let it go. A lot of us have much worse on our transcripts than a "C" from a long time ago.


The way I always heard the old joke was:

Q: What do you call the guy who graduates last in his class at medical school?
A: Doctor.

[dfrecore]

So I thought if I retook the class from my current CC, I could replace the transfer credit with a letter grade.  This would void the first class essentially, keeping my overall GPA at a 4.0.

Many schools will let you retake a course if you get a D or lower, but don't let you retake a C or higher - so you could check your school's policy on this.  I'm betting you're out of luck.

Also, it has to be at that particular school, as was stated before.

I would not waste a single second worrying about this course.